So my calling the death of my iPod may be premature, but it's certainly not functioning normally. I continue to have the etch-a-sketch screen, and I've managed to get it to shuffle. But there's no visual info on the screen when it's playing. Maybe I'm just more attuned to how big a disconnect this is now that I work with accessible interfaces, but damn, it's a whole new iPod. I never know what's playing, and can't choose artists or albums. It's like a glory hole iPod shuffle.

things I have learned by not being able to tell what song is playing (I can attempt to reference my iTunes if I think I know the song name or artist, but otherwise I'm at the mercy of my memory:)

If I can't recall the song but I like it, it's usually Granddaddy or McCluskyIf I think the song reminds me of Queen but without the bombast and Freddie Mercury gaiety, it's probably ELOUnfamiliar P-Funk songs last anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes; while driving, fine. at the gym, less fine.Show tune overtures generally suck on shuffle, and are often hard to identify without contextThere was a time when you couldn't look online to see what the radio was playing and had to catch the back announce. having no screen brings you back to those days, generally for worse.

anyone ever give Apple money to fix this? worth it, or should I just buy a new one?

* there are three of you I think will get that: Alex, Douglas, and probably Craig. Shockingly, there is no wikipedia page for either the artist or the song.